Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Cats Only Please!


Situated in the beautiful woodsy Belmont, The Cats Inn is a popular venue for cat parents!

It's a place where you can bring your beauties for a spa day. They have unimaginable cat toys to keep you babies entertained while you are away on vacation or business trip.


Since only cats are allowed, cat parents don't have to worry about potential barks or sniffing.  They even offer to pick up your babies in a "kitty cat limo"!!

Friday, January 1, 2016

Best Art and Wine Festival of the Year

Now that we are welcoming 2016, it’s time to assess and reflect many of the art and wine festivals we’ve been to in 2015.

After careful consideration, we must say, the best art and wine festival was the one in Palo Alto!!!!

This high quality, community-friendly event was hosted by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and presented by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

The event was located on at the prime of Palo Alto-University Avenue. Parking is actually pretty convenient (if you park at the nearby Caltrain Station).

There were many unique vendors which we didn't see at other art and wine festivals and that was one thing we loved about this one.

In addition, there was awesome street art and talented artists show off their amazing skills.




We had to stop by Sam’s Chowder for losbster!

We can’t wait until 2016 to explore all the art and wine festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area!


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Commis-Epitome of minimalist approach, sophisticated tasting, Oakland

According to MICHELIN guide inspectors,

“Chef/owner James Syhabout may be keeping busy outside of Commis at his other popular restaurants, but this sparse Oakland original is still turning out elegant and creatively complex seasonal dishes to a packed house every night. Tucked into colorful, boutique-strewn Piedmont Avenue, this dining space is a long, clean, minimalist number with a smattering of tables up front; intimate banquette seating in the back; and a lively counter overlooking the humming kitchen. Soft hip-hop music and a vibrant service staff set the mood-cool and contemporary; relaxed but serious. In the kitchen, Chef Syhabout pairs well-sourced, local ingredients with precise technique to create his sophisticated nightly tasting, which continues to be exciting even for jaded gourmands. Dinner might unveil a plate of silky scallops paired with tangy crème fraîche, poached asparagus, and charred lemon granité; warm, roasted abalone with artichoke heart, fried artichoke slivers, and chicken sabayon; or a chilled fava bean soup laced with tarragon-infused crème fraîche, green tomato gelée, and smoked trout roe. A perfectly poached halibut confit with spring pea "porridge" and ginger foam is another beautifully composed plate that reflects the kitchen's attention to detail”.

We were fortunate enough to score a reservation at this 2 MICHELIN star restaurant recently with our lovely friends. This evening was filled with anticipation, excitement and elation. We didn’t preview the menu as we wanted to be “surprised” and sure enough, we were more than pleasantly surprised at Chef James and staff of Commis’ artistry.

A great way to start the evening:
Caramelized onion financier with bee pollen, foie gras tartlet with dried pear and mulling spices, celery root with lovage, apple and mustard




Fermented carrots with pacific mackerel, yogurt and honey



Surf clam with salsify and avocado perfumed with kaffir lime leave



Jerusalem artichokes with sunflower, trout roe and warm sea lettuce butter



Slow poached egg yolk with smoked daets, alliums and malt



Sea bream with pine mushrooms, brown rice, roasted hen broth



Tisane of button mushrooms



Grilled 60-day aged beef ribeye, beef heart, brassicas and raw almond



Jacob and brichford ‘everton’ comte on a butter craker



Dacquoise, mousse, and sorbet in flavors of lemon




Ice cream of toasted grains, parsnip pudding with while sturgeon caviar



Last but not least, coconut tart, hazelnut coffee cookie and calamansi pate de fruit


Next time you will see us sitting at counter by the open kitchen.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

For All the Dim Sum Lovers!

One of the best things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is there are tons of great dim sum restaurants.

Which one have you tried?

The 7 Best Dim Sum Spots In The Bay Area

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Truly a hidden gem of Peninsula-Filoli

Filoli is a historical mansion situated in the breathtaking Peninsula. It is well hidden in the woods by highway 280.

http://www.filoli.org/

Not only is Filoli a magnificent mansion, it also has one of the most unequivocal well manicured garden. It's beyond imagination that at one time of the history, the home was actually occupied by the 2 different families!

We started our day by checking at the visitor center and get an overview of this beautiful places.

Touring around the house



Touring in the beautiful garden



Enjoying afternoon tea at the adjacent compound


We started with Fall Waldorf Salad which complemented  exceptionally well with cranberry scone with lemon curd and zucchini madeleines.

Tea sandwiches consisted of cucumber with radishes and dill, egg salad with spinach, crab tartlets, smoked turkey with cranberry cream cheese and ham, brie and apple on mini baguettes.


For dessert, there was extensive selection of pumpkin spice bars, Halloween petite fours, black forest brownine and apple streusel tart.


Ahhhh, truly a fulling and relaxing experience at the Filoli!!

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